Note: Like other plays we have dealt with, the construction of this play is unique and often challenging to readers. It generally works well on the stage but not so well in the study. So, the questions posed about the construction of the play do not easily follow Ball’s method of analysis. So, I have taken the liberty to change up some of the questions.
1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? NOTE: Do not assume that the stasis of the play is the same as the stasis of the video version that you are required to see. Only discuss the play in this and answers to the following questions.
The play includes many members of two communities, the Jewish and Black communities. The stasis is taking interviews from members from both groups. The interviews are the individuals expressing their thoughts about race and about the event that spiked the riots. The setting surrounds the Crown Heights riots that took place in Brooklyn in the summer of 1991. 2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the MIrror and how is it broken?
I think the intrusion happens later in the play when Rabbi Spielman gives his account on what happened on the day of the car accident. He claimed that the black community had lied about the events and that the group is anti-semititc. This then prompts the black community to retort back with
Reverend Heron Sam that the jewish community were apathetic towards the death of Gavin Cato. From here, it is a sort of who is right question. 3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
The events take place during this time because this is when the Crown Heights Riots took place. The death of the young black boy by a jewish driver sparked racial riots between the two races. This is what caused many civil rights activist on both sides to speak up on the situation and for the tension to rise between the two groups. 4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
The dramatic question is how will this tension between the two communities end and who is right in all of this commotion. Is anyone right or are their right parts on both sides? 5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
The characters on the side of the black community want justice for the little boy that was killed. Their obstacles are the jewish community that are fighting back against them and the justice system that had failed the black community in their eyes. This is a Me against society conflict. The jewish community saw the car crash as an accident and didn't believe it was deliberate or based on race. They wanted the black community and society in general to see it that way as well. Many are angry at the black community for how much the problem has grown and the race riot it is turned in to. 6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
I think some of the most theatrical moments are from the beginning of the play where the people who are interviewed talk about their racial identity. It shows how individuals of both sides feel about themselves in relation to the others. It shows how people can create their own divides between each other and how only they can be the ones to breach them.
1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? NOTE: Do not assume that the stasis of the play is the same as the stasis of the video version that you are required to see. Only discuss the play in this and answers to the following questions.
The play includes many members of two communities, the Jewish and Black communities. The stasis is taking interviews from members from both groups. The interviews are the individuals expressing their thoughts about race and about the event that spiked the riots. The setting surrounds the Crown Heights riots that took place in Brooklyn in the summer of 1991.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the MIrror and how is it broken?
I think the intrusion happens later in the play when Rabbi Spielman gives his account on what happened on the day of the car accident. He claimed that the black community had lied about the events and that the group is anti-semititc. This then prompts the black community to retort back with
Reverend Heron Sam that the jewish community were apathetic towards the death of Gavin Cato. From here, it is a sort of who is right question.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
The events take place during this time because this is when the Crown Heights Riots took place. The death of the young black boy by a jewish driver sparked racial riots between the two races. This is what caused many civil rights activist on both sides to speak up on the situation and for the tension to rise between the two groups.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
The dramatic question is how will this tension between the two communities end and who is right in all of this commotion. Is anyone right or are their right parts on both sides?
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
The characters on the side of the black community want justice for the little boy that was killed. Their obstacles are the jewish community that are fighting back against them and the justice system that had failed the black community in their eyes. This is a Me against society conflict. The jewish community saw the car crash as an accident and didn't believe it was deliberate or based on race. They wanted the black community and society in general to see it that way as well. Many are angry at the black community for how much the problem has grown and the race riot it is turned in to.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
I think some of the most theatrical moments are from the beginning of the play where the people who are interviewed talk about their racial identity. It shows how individuals of both sides feel about themselves in relation to the others. It shows how people can create their own divides between each other and how only they can be the ones to breach them.